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CSR CAPEX Prize: an internal competition to support initiatives with strong sustainable value

Corporate social responsibility and respect for the environment have always been part of Bonduelle's core values. In response to a global context marked by climate change, world population growth and the decline in biodiversity by 2030, the Group has created the CSR Capex Prize: a project designed to strengthen our CSR strategy by supporting initiatives with high sustainable value whose economic profitability will only be effective in the long term.

The game is on!

The purpose of this award is to change our ways of thinking by choosing projects with a sustainable impact and that challenge us to think hard about the world of tomorrow. This approach is useful in changing our long-term vision, but it is also intended to help us integrate sustainable development into our daily management and bolster our desire to become the world reference in “well-living” through plant-based food .

On the agenda: social and environmental innovation – and serving as an example

If the entire Group can participate (up to 3 projects per business unit ), the projects presented must meet specific criteria both in terms of innovation and compatibility with our strategy and our CSR objectives. To have a positive impact on our entire value chain, projects must also integrate several jobs and enhance the commitment of operational teams.

The CSR Award Committee, made up of Business Units representatives from different business lines, then chooses the winner based on the three main criteria: current ROI, future ROI based on future cost estimates, and the “non-economic value” of the project. The last criterion, which is closely related to projects with comprehensive sustainable benefits, is evaluated on the basis of four environmental and social areas:

the image value,

the social value,

the environmental value,

and the value of serving as an example for others.

Bonduelle Europe Long Life (BELL), a winning team for the 1st year

The CSR Capex Prize is a real commitment from the Group's management and offers up to €3 million to develop the winning project. In the first year, 7 initiatives were launched, and two projects presented by BELL were ultimately awarded:

> Local circular impact: a fertigation project on the Bordères site (France)

In southwestern France, young local farmers are facing a lack of water resources in the summer to grow their business.

To solve this situation, the Bordères site and these farmers have imagined reusing 100% of the purified water discharged in the river. The Bordères teams then offered to recycle it into agricultural irrigation: an outstanding project that fosters the strategic focus on zero loss water management, creates local value and preserves the biodiversity of the Adour River.

> A photovoltaic project for the BELL site in Santarém (Portugal)

To decarbonize its energy supply and develop solar at Bonduelle, the Santarém plant will install 3,000 solar panels (5,000 m2) on the roofs of refrigerated buildings and in the parking lot. This project will help to achieve energy self-sufficiency of 7% to 8% of the plant's needs, and will also demonstrate its replicability for the entire Group and send a strong signal about investment in renewable energies.

All these qualities also enabled the team to win the CSR Capex Prize 2018.

In addition to showing their relevance and coherence, these two projects also revealed the BUs' interest in the CSR Capex Prize. In 2019, the competition will continue to keep up the momentum: the challenge is on, now it's time to make ever more CSR a permanent part of the way we think!